Plant reproduction research in Latin America: Toward sustainable agriculture in a changing environment

Abstract Food production and food security depend on the ability of crops to cope with anthropogenic climate change and successfully produce seed. To guarantee food production well into the future, contemporary plant scientists in Latin America must carry out research on how plants respond to environmental stressors such as temperature, drought, and salinity. This review shows the opportunities to apply these results locally and abroad and points to the gaps that still exist in terms of reproductive processes with the purpose to better link research with translational work in plant breeding and biotechnology. Suggestions are put forth to address these gaps creatively in the face of chronic low investment in science with a focus on applicability.

Enhancing agricultural productivity is key to raising living standards; however, human activities during the last century and a half have raised global temperatures by more than 1°C above preindustrial values (Ortiz-Bobea et al., 2021).In crops such as maize, high temperatures above 40°C may induce photosynthetic stress and impact the flowering and grain filling stages, thus causing sterility (Ureta et al., 2020).Thus, for instance in Brazil, rising temperatures may reduce yields in maize and soybean by 29%-36% (Zilli et al., 2020), while in Latin America, the whole agricultural output may decrease by 25% (Ortiz-Bobea et al., 2021).Other expected negative effects of climate change on agriculture are as follows: (1) an increase in the frequency of extreme weather events such as extended drought and intensive rainfall, (2) changes in ultraviolet irradiance, (3) desertification and erosion, and (4) salinization brought about by changes in irrigation and leaching (Corwin, 2021;Ortiz et al., 2021).This review will cover the state-of-the-art in plant reproduction research in Latin America with the purpose of identifying opportunities for agricultural innovation and collaboration to foster adaption to climate change, while also addressing potential gaps that may require rethinking of current approaches to agriculture and agricultural research, including the way academia interacts with the rest of society.

| S NAPS HOT OF CONTEMP OR ARY L ATIN AMERIC AN RE S E ARCH IN PL ANT REPRODUC TION
How does Latin America fare in terms of research into plant reproduction when compared with the rest of the world?In contrasting bodies of literature, there is an imbalance between the output of Latin America, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries (as a proxy for the Collective West), and the rest of the developing world, including the rising scientific powerhouse China.For instance, for 2022, results from using the Shape of Science visualization tool Scimago (Hassan-Montero et al., 2014) suggested that for the fields of agricultural and biological sciences, biochemistry, genetics and molecular biology, and plant science, the total combined output across Scientific Citation Index (SCI) journals (Q1 to Q4) of an unspecified number of articles was 3998.From these, most authors hailed from OECD countries (n = 3689 journals, or 92%), followed by the Middle East (n = 2884, or 72%), Latin America (n = 2793, or 69%), China (n = 2734, or 68%), all of Africa (n = 2615, or 65%), and India (n = 2415, or 60%).This is a rough comparison because of lack of a proper search item for "plant reproduction"(instead, we used a combination of proxy terms associated with agriculture and molecular biology); because a few Latin American countries are OECD members themselves (https:// www.oecd.org/ about/ docum ent/ ratif icati on-oecd-conve ntion.htm); because of the common practice that Latin American and doctoral students from the Global South may publish as part of established laboratories in North America and Europe; and because of the high likelihood that a substantial portion of the scientific literature in developing countries is only available locally.
A quick analysis of the international literature also hints that for contemporary plant reproduction research, there is a clear focus on the study of processes that mediate genetic recombination (Cheng et al., 2022;Wang et al., 2023), pollen tube attraction (Mizuta et al., 2023), and embryo development (Karami et al., 2023) in mature plant models such as Arabidopsis thaliana, which is not a crop, or rice and maize, which double as plant models and crops.In these three cases, the work does not focus on field observations or phylogenetic studies but rather on basic research that may be translated into enhanced crop yields, which is a pressing need considering population growth and climate change (Lenaerts et al., 2019).For instance, the work of French researcher Raphäel Mercier in meiosis has paved the way for clonal rice in which meiotic recombination is abrogated (the Mitosis instead Meiosis phenotype, or MiMe).
Then, ectopic expression of the sperm identity factor BABYBOOM1 (Arabidopsis gene ID At5g17430) allows for autonomous embryo development (Stokstad, 2023).This type of work allows for the indefinite fixation of maximal heterosis in rice, a crop consumed by billions of people across every continent (Stokstad, 2023).Another example is the work of R.K. Dawe and colleagues in the United States that led to the breeding of haploid maize lines (Dawe et al. 2023).This work cleverly used mutant alleles for the centromeric histone CENH3 (Arabidopsis gene ID At1g01370; maize gene ID ZmB84.06G235300), and male lines that express the cenh3 allele contribute chromosomes via the sperm nuclei.These chromosomes then fuse with the haploid egg cell and the diploid central cell and disintegrate during cell division (Dawe et al. 2023).

| MEI OS IS
A line of work of great interest is the establishment of crossovers between homologous chromosomes during plant meiosis.Meiotic crossovers are physical links between homologous chromosomes that are formed due to the exchange of parental sequences (Rafiei & Ronceret, 2023).Their distribution and number along chromosomes are not random, but in general at least one obligate crossover will be formed between each pair of chromosomes to guarantee proper segregation during metaphase I (Girard et al., 2023).Two major pathways exist for meiotic crossover formation: interfering class I and non-interfering class II.Class I crossovers represent most crossovers (80% in Arabidopsis) and interfere with each other's formation, whereas those of class II are in the minority; the two classes do not show mutual interference (Lian et al., 2022).Regulation of the class I pathway is under control of factors ZIP4/SPO22/PH1 (a tetratricopeptide repeat TPR-like superfamily protein), MER3 (a DNA helicase), HEI10 (a RING finger-containing protein), PTD (a DNA ligase-like protein), SHOC1/ZIP2 (an XPF endonuclease-like protein), and the resolvases MSH4, MSH5, and MLH1 (Rafiei & Ronceret, 2023).
Notably, the team of Ronceret et al. at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) (see Table 1) in collaboration with Rachel Wang at Academia Sinica in Taipei has provided evidence that in the maize spo11-1 mutants (Ku et al., 2020), the induction of double-strand breaks, crossover formation, and the very organization of the axial elements (the backbone) and chromosome loops is all compromised.In eukaryotes, the topoisomerase SPO11 (Arabidopsis At3g13170, maize Zm00001d013262) regulates the formation of double-strand breaks in DNA, and in these maize mutant meiocytes, the formation of double-strand breaks is severely impaired, as shown by TUNEL assay.Consequently, homologous chromosomes are unable to establish crossover sites and few bivalents are formed (Ku et al., 2020).Homologous chromosomes also become long and curly by zygotene, a phenotype also observed by Mathilde Grelon in the Arabidopsis zyp1-1 mutants, in which differences in crossover frequency between male and female gametes (heterochiasmy) are abolished (Durand et al., 2022).In the case of maize, the actual mechanism underlying these changes is not known (Ku et al., 2020); however, changes in crossover distribution or formation rates clearly occur when the anti-helicase FANCM is mutated, as seen in in Arabidopsis (Crismani et al., 2012) and lettuce (Li et al., 2021).One-third of the global maize cultivation area is in tropical areas of low-and middle-income countries, for instance Latin America, East Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and South-East Asia, all of which are drought-prone areas (Prasanna et al., 2022).In these countries, past production gains were a result of an increase in area, not yield (Prasanna et al., 2022).Thus, novel breeding techniques based on manipulation of recombination in crops are top priority to boost yield (Epstein et al., 2023;Prasanna et al., 2022).
Unfortunately, despite the enormous importance of meiosis for plant breeding, biology majors in Latin America may not have a clear grasp of the process, as shown by the study of Rodríguez Gil et al. (2019) at the UNAM (Mexico), in which students were not able to complete a simple diagram.Also, the overall proportion of GDP allocated to science in Latin America is a serious limiting factor for any type of research (Bolaños-Villegas et al., 2020).Of outstanding relevance is the work of Verena Reutemann and Eric J. Martínez at Universidad Nacional del Nordeste in Argentina (see Table 1).They have characterized gene flow in diploid (2n = 2x = 20) species of tropical Paspalum grass that may either outcross or self-mate (Reutemann et al., 2023).These are agriculturally important turfgrasses highly tolerant to salinity and drought (Wu et al., 2020).Contrary to what was expected by Reutemann et al. (2023), self-maters show high morphological variation within populations, compared to outcrossers, while high morphological variation within populations leads to low differentiation among populations (Reutemann et al., 2023).This might be attributed to low meiotic recombination in Paspalum selfers since they are believed to be apomictic, a trait of great importance in breeding of clonal seeds (Ortiz et al., 2013).In Paspalum, an unreduced embryo sac develops from nucellar cells, while the male germ line often shows irregular meiosis (multivalents, asynapsis, chromosome bridges, and micronuclei) and defective pollen mitosis (irregular cytokinesis) (Ortiz et al., 2013).Previous work by this team suggests that apomixis might be linked to deregulated expression of MAPK3 genes and homologs of LORELEI (Ortiz et al., 2013).Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) genes have been associated with meiotic and mitotic cytokinesis (De Storme & Geelen, 2013;Lei et al., 2020), while LORELEI (LRE) codes for a pollen tube receptor localized at the cell wall in synergid cells of the ovule (Hafidh & Honys, 2021).In Argentina, apomixis is a desirable trait because it allows the distribution of clonal seed (Ortiz et al., 2013).
Moreover, it has the potential to suppress the growth of most crops through strong allelopathic competition (Peerzada, 2017).The work of André Luís Laforga Vanzela at the State University of Londrina in Brazil (Roca et al., 2023) (see Table 1) and Chaves et al. (2023) at the Federal University of Lavras in Minas Gerais, also in Brazil, has shown that the meiosis of Cyperids points to the presence of holocentric chromosomes.In these chromosomes, multiple centromeric units are distributed along the surface of metaphase chromosomes, extending from one telomere to the other, and are therefore seen as an unbroken thread on each chromatid (Hofstatter et al., 2022).
Holocentromeres may stabilize chromosomal fragments and fusions that cause karyotype rearrangements and allow speedy speciation (Hofstatter et al., 2022).Holocentric chromosomes may also show high telomerase activity during meiosis which allows for de novo synthesis of broken telomeres (Jankowska et al., 2015).Therefore, in Cyperids, dysploidy, together with fissions and fusions, is common during meiosis; however, pollen viability is unusually high because segregation errors are rectified by the end of meiosis (Chaves et al., 2023).High temperatures caused by climate change may reduce herbicide effectiveness against Cyperus rotundus; however, a combination of intercropping, crop rotation, intercropping, the use of cover crops such as Mucuna aterrima, and the use of advanced TA B L E 1 Selected leading Latin American institutions in plant reproduction research as of 2023-2024.

Requirements for implementation
The Nicotiana is easy to grow and allows detailed subcellular characterization of proteins that cannot be performed on most crops due to long life cycles and recalcitrance to transfection.
High seed set is key for high productivity in the tropics.
The identification of key genes in Nicotiana tabacum, such as NtPAE1, may allow for the breeding of drought-resistant crops not commonly grown in lush South America such as olives.
Note: Information collected and collated from publications and institutional websites.

TA B L E 1 (Continued)
pre-emergence and post-emergence herbicides may allow for some degree of control (Peerzada, 2017).female parent.These results were interpreted as suggesting ploidydependent expression of imprinted genes (Jia et al., 2022).This type of work is very relevant since for the last 50 years the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) has performed wheat breeding at the Norman E. Borlaugh research station near Ciudad Obregón, in Sonora State, Mexico, and released over 30 different varieties in China, Egypt, Pakistan, Australia, and Ethiopia (Mondal et al., 2020).Moreover, genetically modified wheat that is drought-tolerant has been developed in Argentina, and its cultivation may become widespread in South America (Roca et al., 2023), so research into the biology of wheat seed development and ploidy may be of even more value in the future.

| S EED DE VELOPMENT
Seed germination is difficult when the environment is saline (Palomar et al., 2021).The work of Alejandra A. Covarrubias at UNAM university in Mexico (see Table 1) has shown that in Arabidopsis, the RNA-directed DNA methylation pathway represses the activation of transposable elements during salinity stress (Palomar et al., 2021) and that mutations in the endonuclease ARGONAUTE 4 (AGO4, At2g27040) reduce the ability to cope with salinity (Palomar et al., 2021).Moreover, the localization of AGO4 within the embryo is dynamic, and the AGO4-GFP protein mostly relocalizes to the vascular tissues from cotyledons during salinity stress (100 mM NaCl) (Palomar et al., 2021).Soil salinity is a threat to global food security and environmental sustainability, and strategies of adaptation are believed to be the best way to deal with it in the face of climate change (Mukhopadhyay et al., 2021).
In maize, the work of Dinkova et al. at UNAM university in Mexico (see Table 1) in collaboration with Blake C. Meyers at the University of Missouri has shown quite elegantly that for zygotic embryos to proliferate in vitro there needs to be strong expression of microRNAs, trans-acting siRNAs, and heterochromatic siRNAs as induced by treatment with auxins, especially in samples collected 15 days after pollination (Juárez-González et al., 2019).These transcriptional patterns may be linked to the control of Copia, Gypsy, and other transposable elements (Juárez-González et al., 2019).A better understanding of transcriptional patterns may allow for better selection of maize calli with high embryogenic potential (Juárez-González et al., 2019).Maize genetic transformation is performed in calli (Sun et al., 2013).
The role of hormonal regulation of female gametogenesis is a key developmental process that has been studied in Arabidopsis by the team of Pagnussat et al. at the Mar del Plata University in Argentina (see Table 1) in collaboration with Jana Oletskava at the Czech Academy of Sciences (Bellido et al., 2022).The collaboration found that genes coding for mitochondrial adrenodoxins 1 and 2 and adrenodoxin receptor (ADX1, At4g05450; ADX2, At4g21090; and ADXR, At4g32360) control the fusion of the polar nuclei and placement of the synergids within the ovule.After pollination, embryo development is compromised, probably because of defects in the transfer of electrons within the mitochondrial P450 pathway (Bellido et al., 2022).In the mutants, pollen tube attraction is defective as well (Bellido et al., 2022).Animal ADXR proteins also have a role in steroid synthesis, so the team reasoned that exogenous application of the plant brassinosteroid called homocastasterone would reduce developmental seed abortion (Bellido et al., 2022).Subsequent application of homocastasterone may have reduced abortion from about 35%-5% (Bellido et al., 2022).The team thinks that this common steroid molecular pathway between plants and animals might be due to convergent evolution (Bellido et al., 2022).In China, female sterility is used for breeding hybrid rice (Xia et al., 2019), so an agricultural application might be developed for inducing female sterility by adx1/2 in Argentina, for rice or for soy.

| P OLLEN TUB E DE VELOPMENT
The study of plant reproduction could not be completed with a good understanding of pollen tube development.(Borassi et al., 2021).Staining of the cell wall with pontamine fast scarlet 4B (S4B) suggested that the cell wall of mutant pollen tubes germinated in vitro is thicker, whereas staining with 2,7-dichlorofluorescein diacetate probe showed excessive production of reactive oxygen species, affecting the deposition of pectins and thereby impairing elongation and seed production (Borassi et al., 2021).More recently, this team suggested that the HRGP superfamily glycosylates leucine-rich repeat extensins (LRXs) (Sede et al., 2022).The process involves the genes PROLYL 4-HYDROXYLASE ISOFORM 4/6 (P4H4/6, loci unreported), as deduced by defects in germination and elongation observed in the Arabidopsis T-DNA double mutants, plus the corresponding complementation assays and subcellular localization studies with P4H4-YFP lines (Sede et al., 2022).Also, mutant pollen tubes were plasmolyzed after germination with a mannitol solution at 40% v/v and the fluorescence of LRX11-GFP was compared to the fluorescence pattern of membrane dye propidium iodide (PI).In the wild type, most of the LRX11-GFP signal colocalized with PI at the apoplast of the pollen tip (80%), but very little LRX11-GFP did so in the mutant line p4h4-1p4h6-1 (20%), which suggests that glycosylation of LRX11 by P4HS may affect the hydroxylation of LRXs in the Golgi apparatus and allow for properly glycosylated LRXs to be ferried into exocytic vesicles and then delivery to the apoplast, where they partake in the crosslink and assembly of the cell wall (Sede et al., 2022).LRXs may be required for polarized cell growth by interacting with their N-terminal domain with the rapid alkalinization-factor peptides at the cell wall, where they activate reactive oxygen species and calcium signaling pathways (Sede et al., 2022), and this article may lend strong support to this hypothesis.The study of polarized cell growth in pollen tubes has long been deemed of great agricultural value (Zhang & McCormick, 2008), especially the interplay between climate change, pollen tube development, and yield across crops such as rice, maize, potato, and wheat (Chaturvedi et al., 2021).
In Chile, the team of Simón Ruiz-Lara (see for mRNA extraction and RT-qPCR, followed by in situ hybridization, cloning, and plant transformation with Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58C1RifR (pGV2260) (Lubini et al., 2023).The role of NtPAE1 in the wild type and the T-DNA mutant (Ri16.2) was fully determined by pollen tube growth analyses on stigmas and styles collected 7 h after pollination (Lubini et al., 2023).Pollen tubes from the mutant were not able to elongate significantly in the wild type, and mutant plants were sterile (Lubini et al., 2023).Pollen acetylesterases are important in crops including olives (Olea europaea) (Lubini et al., 2023), so this line of research might have a direct agricultural impact in South America in areas that grow olives, such as Chile.

| CON CLUS I ON S AND OUTLOOK
Taken together, these reports are evidence that in Latin America, there is a roster of young scientists doing high-quality research in plant reproduction.However, the teams require more government support for financial stability, to overcome institutional underfund-  (García-López et al., 2019).The study of agricultural biodiversity may also pave the way for crops with new and exciting traits, as seen with native Vanilla species (Watteyn et al., 2023).Finally, plant and agricultural research in Latin America may have a positive multiplying role in growth of purchasing power, nourishment of rural children, and social stability (Pawlak & Kołodziejczak, 2020).Therefore, research into plant reproduction needs to be encouraged not only for scientific advancement but also for creating more resilient societies.
An overlooked aspect of plant reproduction and plant breeding in Latin America is that much of it was carried in the past before the advent of modern science and that much of the preexisting agricultural diversity still exists in rural communities (Ureta et al., 2020) (Figure 1a).Seeds are the result of millennia of multigenerational and collaborative labor and knowledge-making (Fullilove, 2024).Thus, to protect present and future community plant breeding, NGOs and universities could devise cost-effective ways to safeguard landrace seeds within communities, while providing much needed extension services (Ureta et al., 2020), such as the Red de Semillas Libres de Colombia (RSLC; Free Seed Network of Colombia) (García-López et al., 2019).
Moreover, the world already benefits from plant breeding managed in Latin America.For instance, the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) whose headquarters are in Texcoco (Mexico State) (Figure 1b) has quickly developed a maize breeding pipeline for Kenya, Uganda, and Ethiopia (Eastern Africa Product Profile 1a, EA-PP1a) that is tolerant to Maize Lethal Necrosis and drought conditions, but also shows genetic gain yields of 2.46% per year (64 kg per hectare per year) (Prasanna et al., 2022).
This was accomplished together with the Nairobi and Addis Ababa CIMMYT branch offices with help from the Ugandan government.
Another pipeline was also developed for Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan in cooperation with local governments.These are drought and heat tolerant lines (South Asia Heat and Drought Stress Tolerance, SADHT lines) that reach yields of 71 kg per hectare per year and show genetic gain yields from 0.24% (high Vapor Pressure Deficit, VPD) to 2.02% (low VPD) (Prasanna et al., 2022).Perhaps accelerated introgression of new traits could be attempted with maize homologs for regulators of meiotic crossover formation such as FANCM (Crismani et al., 2012).
In is irregular and poorly understood (Nassar et al., 1995).This may be a niche full of opportunities in the future.
A third route for fostering investment in plant research under chronic low investment in science is to tackle government regulatory red tape related to biotechnology and genome editing, as suggested by Roca et al. (2023).This is a controversial topic, but it is worth not- However, there are multiple examples of applied research in the field of meiosis, as shown by the cytogenetic work in Mexico of Ruvalcaba-Ruiz and Rodríguez-Garay (2002) in blue agave, in which structural rearrangements reduce pollen fertility; the work of Usandizaga et al. (2020) in Argentina with tetraploid and hexaploid lines of forage grass Acroceras macrum Stap.; and the work of Sattler et al. (2016) in Brazil with coffee, specifically with the allotriploid (2n = 3x = 33) interspecific hybrid Híbrido de Timor, a great source of resistance to pathogens that was resurrected by tissue culture from only four plants.
) approaches a post-zygotic developmental barrier, called the endosperm triploid block (2 maternal: 1 paternal), which results in the nonviability of crosses between lines of different ploidy to generate viable seeds (Zumajo-Cardona et al., 2023).The author's work and that of her colleagues have shown that a mutant allele for the transcription factor for flavonoid synthesis, TRANSPARENT TESTA 8 (At4g09820), rescues this block in F1 seeds.Also, this work assessed whether flavonoid biosynthetic genes at the testa allow for maternal-zygotic crosstalk and somehow control the pace of cellularization of the endosperm (Zumajo-Cardona et al., 2023).The group of Pabón-Mora et al. at the Institute of Biology of the University of Antioquia in Colombia has also made several notable contributions to understanding sexual plant reproduction, such as the functional characterization of the bHLH genes ALCATRAZ and SPATULA, which determine petal expansion and repress fruit lignification in Solanaceae, in collaboration with C. Ferrándiz at the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain (Ortiz-Ramírez et al., 2019), and the characterization of orchid homologs of flowering regulator FLOWERING LOCUS T in species of horticultural value (Ospina-Zapata et al., 2020).Regarding seed development, work by the team of Stewart Gillmor at the Mexican National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO) (see Table 1) has shown that in Arabidopsis Columbia x Landsberg hybrid zygotes, the maternal and paternal genomes are transcribed unevenly, probably caused by differences in CpG methylation that affect the expression of key developmental genes such as MONOPTEROS (At1g19850, for vascular development in embryos) and GAMETE EXPRESSED PROTEIN1 (At5g55490, for nuclear fusion during double fertilization) (Alaniz-Fabián et al., 2022).Collaborative work of Dr. Gillmor with the team of Daoquan Xiang at the Aquatic and Crop Resource Development Center in Saskatoon, Canada, and several researchers from the Huazhong Agricultural University in Wuhan, China, suggest that in reciprocal crosses of tetraploid and hexaploid wheat lines, there is extensive transcriptional change in F1 hybrid embryos.For instance, alternative splicing, protein processing, and chromatin remodeling show variation in pentaploids from a hexaploid (6n) female parent, whereas protein modification and transport show changes in pentaploids from a tetraploid (4n) ing and overbearing bureaucracy and to be better prepared to face the challenge of developing socially relevant projects(Miranda- Nieto et al., 2022).In developing countries, translational research from model plants into local crops should be considered a top priority and lead to the development and transfer of high-yielding crop varieties to farmers in the face of loss of arable land and the effects of climate change(Ronald, 2014).Well-funded, multinational, and long-term partnerships to support plant breeding and sustainable agriculture are vital(Ronald, 2014).Thus, local plant reproduction groups must work together and create umbrella consortia, but the actual strategy to do so is not clear.Latin America features clusters of high-quality research in plant reproduction centered on Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, and Colombia, often in collaboration with teams abroad.Continuous cooperation with leading centers in Europe and NorthAmerica will be necessary to maintain the exchange of students and faculty due to the differences in national incomes and relative expenditures in research and development.For instance, Mexico spends 0.29% of its GDP on science when compared with 2.71% in Germany (https:// data.oecd.org/ rd/ gross -domes tic-spend ingon-r-d.htm).Plant reproduction research into native crops must be expanded to guarantee food security well into the future, especially in terms of fair and open seed management and distribution among farmers Palmira, Colombia, the International Center for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) runs the Cassava breeding program (Ospina-Zapata et al., 2020).Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is considered one of the most important crops in the world, and its successful cultivation is instrumental for keeping food security and income generation for nearly 600 million people (Ospina-Zapata et al., 2020).The roots are the main product and represent a major source of carbohydrates in the tropics where drought and poor soils restrict the cultivation of any other crop (Ospina-Zapata et al., 2020).Moreover, cassava leaves are an important source of essential amino acids, vitamins, and minerals both for human consumption and as animal feed across Vietnam, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Brazil (Ospina-Zapata et al., 2020).Cassava tissues contain low levels of cyanide; thus, they have to be carefully washed.Recently, CIAT has released two lines (VEN77 and PAN51) with low cyanide and β-carotenoid content that may be used as parental lines for breeding purposes (Ospina-Zapata et al., 2020), potentially contributing to raising living standards across the developing world.Meiosis in cassava species and hybrids ing that climate change may challenge the natural capacity of crops F I G U R E 1 Latin American agricultural diversity is the result of ancestral plant breeding at rural communities (a) and it can be collected and characterized (b) to breed crops that enhance food security and facilitate the adaptation to anthropogenic climate change.a, Picture taken at Yucatán Mexico.b, Picture taken at the seed vault of CIMMYT in Texcoco, Mexico.Credits: (a) AlaskanDude via FLICKR and Wikimedia.(b) CIMMYT via FLICKR.Files are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

Name of institution Location Areas of expertise, issue addressed Researchers showcased Impact on food security and agricultural adaptation to climate change Requirements for implementation
May require investment on rural seed banks for the conservation of agricultural diversity and may require an upgrade of local gene sequencing facilities.May require the training of extension workers able to perform conventional plant breeding TA B L E 1 (Continued) (Continues)

Name of institution Location Areas of expertise, issue addressed Researchers showcased Impact on food security and agricultural adaptation to climate change Requirements for implementation
TA B L E 1 (Continued)

Name of institution Location Areas of expertise, issue addressed Researchers showcased Impact on food security and agricultural adaptation to climate change Requirements for implementation
Another avenue for plant reproduction research, both basic and applied, is seed development.In the case of A. thaliana, the work of Zumajo-Cardona et al. from Colombia (see Table1

Table 1
) at the Millennium Nucleus for the Development of Super Adaptable Plants (MN-SAP), in Santiago, and at the University of Talca have characterized in Arabidopsis the role of a C 2 H 2 -type zinc-finger transcription factor called AtZAT4 (At2g45120), which was suspected to operate similar to DUO POLLEN 1-ACTIVATED ZINC FINGER 1/2 (Puentes-Romero et al., 2022).Alexander staining of pollen from the Atzat4 (+/−) line did not reveal any viability defects; however, in vitro germination showed reduced germination and short tubes when compared with the wild type.Seed set